OnStage: In Cherry Hill, NJ, the local school board is moving towards censoring Cherry Hill High School's production of Ragtime, by changing or removing the word in the script. A complaint from a parent of a student involved in the show, also led the local chapter of the NAACP to support the Board of Education's decision.
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I agree with the argument made in this article by censoring the usage of racial slurs all you are doing is just avoiding a opportunity to discuss why these statements are racist and unacceptable. One line in the article really strikes home for me and that is with the closing lines of the petitions that state that they wish "...to present history as it happened rather than how we'd prefer to remember it." This I feel is an important thing to note our history as a country has undoubtedly horrific aspects to it and the notion that censoring the racial slurs out of Ragtime does nothing and in fact just reminds me of the ostrich putting its head in the sand to ignore what is our past. A more appropriate action would be for the school to support a talk back to discuss the usage of the racial slurs and actually attempt to handle the problem rather than simply run away for it.
If anyone didn't hear, the board that was ruling about this did decide that they would allow the un-censored version of the production to be performed after a large survey and criticism from many theatrical artists. I also agree with what the article had to say... In the climate we are in, discussing race is more and more important. This article also reminded me of another post from this year about "Why Schools need to be Performing Heathers, The Musical." It is interesting to think about the conversations plays like this start. I don't think that there is a problem with the students who are performing this material having the conversation because the theatre community tends to be accepting of many. However, where I do think this is important is the people who are watching the show, or even another High School Student who happens to hear some words of a song and it really makes them think... you never know what even that can do.
There are two sides, I believe, to this issue of censoring. I do agree, personally, entirely that given the context and material, censoring in this production of Ragtime could be detrimental to starting those needed conversations about race, detrimental to opening people's eyes to emotional pain that they might not realize is there because it does not directly affect them. However, the other side of the issue is the possible effect of normalizing phrases or sentiments that should not be normalized nor treated as ok. I do not believe that these tough subjects should be shied away from in efforts to avoid all possible insult and all possible incidents that could result. I do not believe censoring is the answer; however, I do think we have to be very cautious when presenting material like this - or as another mentioned, like Heathers. Anyone who puts on a production with such serious weight,, I believe should have some sort of system in place to be able to handle whatever consequences there may be. The conversations we need to have, the ideas need to be presented, but in order to do so we must ensure we can handle to outcome.
It seems to me that more and more high school shows are either being censored or cancelled due to content. It is very confusing due to the face that the principal has to approve of the show. Clearly that person either did not realize the content in the show or did not care and wanted it to be performed the way its intended to be. Parents need to realize by censoring this type of material is not helping. I understand that it can be hard to hear such vulgar language but in this context it is showing how horrible it is to use that type of language. And in a time like this more and more people need to realize that it is not okay. I did find out that the schools decision was to perform the show un-censored which made me so happy. Censoring theater is not and okay thing to do.
It's so crazy to see Cherry Hill make national news like this, as they're not far from my hometown in New Jersey. Like John said the school district has recently made the decision to let them perform Ragtime with the full original text, which includes the N-word. The author notes that whenever this word is used in this show it's in a derogatory manner. In a time where racism and hate are becoming more and more widespread it's dangerous to shut down any potential conversations that could arise from this piece. I'm happy that the school board made this decision, as censoring theatre has become all too common place in high schools. My junior year we performed A Chorus Line, but in order for it to be approved our director had to agree to change out all of the strong language. Technically we were also breaking the rules like Cherry Hill would have with their censored show, and would have easily been shut down if we were caught. Although it's hard to find the line about what is and isn't appropriate for high schoolers to perform, censoring existing texts is not the way to go.
I think the article addresses the topic perfectly. In my opinion, if a school cannot handle the subject matter appropriately it should not perform the piece at all. The use of content such as that in Ragtime is placed in context as a way to distinguish the racism and prejudice that black Americans faced at the time the play takes place. The backlash, media attention, and legality issues no doubt played a role in the school board's decision to allow the performance, but I think the letter written by the students is what should have truly secured the decision. The letter written by those students contained such poise, intelligence, and maturity that I think proves that they have the capability of handling such material in a responsible way. They understand the content and why it is written the way it is, so after a situation like this I believe those moments on stage will be all the more powerful.
Hm this one is a head scratcher. I am gonna have to say I agree with the school board on this. I generally am not in favor of censoring plays, but in this context I think it might be best. I think it very important to keep this word in plays from this era in order to remain historically accurate and also to make the audience feel more, but I just do not think that is necessarily the case with a high school level production. I 100% think Carnegie Mellon's Ragtime, which is like one step short of a professional production, should definitely keep that word in there, since it is extremely important to tell the story accurately and effectively. However, I do not think high school actors should be forced to say the word, and I may be wrong but I don't really think high school theatre affects audiences all that much. This may the best high school in the world, but I still don't think it is necessary. But really this one could go either way and I would still probably agree with either decision.
How fitting to be reading an article about the importance of teaching about racism onstage at a time like this. I do think it’s harmful to be censoring the words of racism that were period to the time for shows such as Ragtime because, in a way, it’s pretending that these things didn’t happen, or that it somehow wasn’t as bad as we thought it to be. I think the entire reason that we are in the mess that we are in is because we as a country are allowing history to repeat itself. Trump is trying to divide and alienate the country, to make everyone watch out for themselves only and have an intense fear of the other, and clearly it’s working. Publishing a weekly list of crimes committed by immigrants, blocking off our borders; this is all creating a society of fear and shame and misinformation. A few days ago I sat in the paint shop painting textaline to be the bright blue of the American flag, having just read an article on my phone about the white house website in spanish being taken down. I text my immigrant parents every day as the things that Trump said he would do actually start to happen. We are doomed to repeat history, as we always have. This is no longer a question of beliefs or preferences; people are going to be forced to be isolated, emigrated, alienated, kicked out, uneducated, abused, detained, killed- now more than ever we need to be reminding ourselves of the atrocities of our past and how eerily similar they are to our present. This has become literally impossible to ignore, and if you are sitting by the wayside watching these atrocities happen, you’re the problem.
Lots and lots of high schools censoring shows this week I see? I feel like Ragtime is a big one since Carnegie Mellon is doing its own production of it. I think it's seriously harmful and unprofessional to censor the usage of that word in the production because it has a huge message tied to it from the time that this show was written and the time that this show represents. The article specifically states that the reason this word is there is to make the audience sympathize with Coalhouse, to make the audience feel the hate in that word, to feel the hate that he feels. These few lines make the audience think, offer fresh squeezed discourse on the topic, and makes us think about the play in a contemporary context. Personally, I definitely don't have the same relationship with the N-word as others do given that I am white but I still remember when I first learned about it and my parents didn't just ignore me when I asked what it meant, they explained to me what it did mean and the horrible history behind it and why I should never use it. That was enough for me to understand and it offered enlightenment. This same sense of enlightenment and thought should be offered with any production of Ragtime. Honestly, without this critical scene, Ragtime just isn't ragtime anymore. In my high school, I remember doing Ragtime with no knowledge of the show beforehand and when I sat down for the first day of tech and heard that word so distinctly as an "audience member" it really did serve as a slap in the face but a refreshing slap in any case. By censoring this word, you lose this connection between the audience of the story and the point isn't driven as deep into the mind as it should be.
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